The FTSE 100 closed down 50.79 points at 7658.26 and the pound was at $1.31 against the dollar. #

Ryanair has warned over job losses for more than 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew as it revealed plans to cut its Dublin-based aircraft fleet by 20 per cent, blaming recent pilot strike action.

Elsewhere today, ITV reported rising half-year profits and sales, thanks to 'outstanding contributions' from Love Island and World Cup programming. The company is moving ahead with plans to launch a streaming service to rival Netflix.

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17:29

City pundits on today's session

Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG, said: 'An apprehensive day for financial markets has seen significant selling throughout European stocks ahead of a key US-EU meeting.

'With Trump and [the EU's Jean-Claude] Juncker set for trade discussions in Washington later, the pessimistic stance seen within markets is certainly warranted given the acrimonious tone taken in previous meetings.

'Conflicting comments from Trump saw the President pronounce that "tariffs are the greatest", only to suggest that he was ready to "drop all tariffs, barriers and subsidies" against the EU.

'The big bone of contention is going to be the automotive sector, with rumour of a 25 per cent tariff being imposed by Trump on almost $200billion worth of automobile imports later this year.'

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets, said: 'Stocks are in the red as traders lock in profits in the wake of yesterday’s strong session.

'Dealers await the meeting between President Trump and the European commission’s Jean-Claude Juncker. Mr Juncker will be on the charm offensive to try and avoid hefty tariffs being imposed on EU cars that are imported into the US.'

He went on:'President Trump has lined up $12billion worth of aid for US farmers for any unintended consequences of the trade spat with China.

'This suggests the US president will hold a tough line against Beijing, and is not willing to back down, even if it damages his own economy.'

17:08

FTSE 100 closes down 50.79 points at 7658.26

15:51

City on edge over impact on markets of Trump vs Juncker summit

Connor Campbell, an analyst at SpreadEx, said: 'Investors remained concerned as Wednesday went on, the uncertainties ahead of the potentially week-defining summit between Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker dragging the markets into the red.'

He added: 'The big question is whether these losses are a precursor to a more severe decline on Thursday.

'That’s going to be dependent on how the Wednesday Night Main Event: Trump vs Juncker pans out. The fact the President tweeted "Tariffs are the greatest!" ahead of the get-together suggests Juncker has a tough task on his hands to try and avert a US-EU trade war.

'On the other hand, expectations are likely so low for a positive outcome that even the slightest bit of reconciliation might garner an over-sized reaction from the markets.'

15:43

FTSE 100 down 0.56% ahead of closing time

The FTSE 100 is down 0.56 per cent or 43.01p to 7,666.04.

In currency markets, the pound is flat against the US dollar at $1.3147 and flat against the euro at €1.1246.

14:06

Former boss of Fiat Chrysler dies in hospital aged 66

Former Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne has died in hospital at the age of 66.

He was replaced by the group four days ago when his health worsened following complications from surgery on his right shoulder.

Mr Marchionne, who was also Ferrari's chairman, had led the combined company for more than a decade and planned to step down next year.

Wizz Air has blamed air traffic control strikes for a surge in cancellations and passenger compensation costs that knocked first quarter profits by 14 per cent.

The budget airline logged a near 18 per cent rise in revenue to £491million in the three months to 30 June, thanks in part to a 19.7 per cent rise in passengers to 8.6million.

However, pre-tax profits tumbled to £46.3 million from £53.7 million a year earlier.

11:58

ScottishPower sees home supply business earnings rise by over 300%

The energy company's earnings rose 306 per cent in its home supply business to £165.8million in the first half of the financial year.

The group said the division had 'recovered' from a poor performance last year.

By the end of the first quarter, Spanish-owned ScottishPower's customer base had fallen from 5million to 4.9million.

11:51

Mortgage approvals for homes rise to a nine-month high

The number of mortgage approvals being made to home buyers jumped to a nine-month high in June, a high street banking report has found.

Figures from UK Finance show there were 40,541 approvals for house purchase in June - the highest monthly total since September 2017.

Some 29,354 re-mortgage approvals were also made, marking a slight decrease on May, when there were 29,732 re-mortgage approvals.

Next month, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will vote on whether or not to raise interest rates from the current rate of 0.5 per cent.

11:44

The footsie has tumbled 0.6 per cent to 7,622

FTSE's decline accelerated as Wednesday went on amid losses in the mining and banking sectors, and wider fears over what will happen between Donald Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker this evening.

Falling 55 points, the UK index ended up shedding most of the growth it managed on Tuesday.

11:43

GSK embarks on major cost cutting drive

GlaxoSmithKline is embarking on a cost-cutting drive that is set to save £400million per year by 2021 as part of a 'new major restructuring programme.'

The announcement came as GSK announced its second-quarter results, which showed group sales coming in flat at £7.3billion, at actual exchange rates.

When adjusted for currently fluctuations, turnover grew by 4 per cent.

It swung to a pre-tax profit of £614million up from a loss of £178million a year earlier.

The group's share price is up 1.19 per cent or 18.50p to 1,575.30p.

11:41

Marston's brews up a boost in the heatwave

Sales at drinks-led taverns rose 5 per cent in the last four months.

Commenting on the results and what it means for investors, Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, says: 'Today’s third quarter trading update from pub and brewing group Marston’s showed that it had benefited from the combination of the World Cup and the extended period of hot summer weather.

'Investors should appreciate that Marston’s expansion plans remain on track and it reiterated its expectations for growth in underlying earnings for the full year.

'The results provide some welcome news for investors and defy gloomy forecasts for the pub sector this year. We therefore maintain our 'Buy' recommendation due to the group's continued expansion and progressive dividend policy but the uncertainty around the UK economic outlook in the short term means this remains a contrarian stock and more suitable for medium to high risk investors.'

The shape of Nestle's four-finger KitKat bar has lost its EU-wide protected trademark status after the European Court of Justice dismissed an appeal by the confectionery giant.

Judges sitting in the Luxembourg court dismissed an appeal by Nestle against an earlier ruling that the company had only provided evidence that the chocolate was sufficiently well known in Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Sweden and the UK.

They had earlier been instructed that the chocolate was not well enough known in Belgium, Ireland, Greece and Portugal.

11:25

Vodafone's revenues slip but group remains optimistic

Tough trading in Italy and Spain took the shine off the final set of results delivered by outgoing Vodafone boss Vittorio Colao, with the company reporting a slowdown in first-quarter organic service revenue growth.

The world's second biggest mobile operator had warned that growth would slow at the start of the new financial year, but it reiterated its full-year cash and earnings targets.

For the quarter to the end of June, organic service revenue grew by 0.3 per cent under the IAS 18 accounting basis, a sharp slowdown from the previous year but slightly ahead of consensus forecasts at 0.2 per cent.

Deutsche Bank's shares are in the red after the bank revealed a 14 per cent drop in second-quarter net profit.

Revenue from fixed income, currencies and commodities trading fell by 17 per cent, and that was a larger drop than analysts were expecting. Revenue from equity trading and sales fell by 6 per cent.

The bank has cut 2,100 jobs since the start of the year, and it is halfway to achieving its target of trimming its headcount by 4.7 per cent this year. The aggressive restructuring is a good start, but investors will want to see a turnaround in the core business too. The stock is off the lows of the year, but if it can hold above the €10 mark it could push higher.

09:49

Ryanair axing jobs amid pilot strike action

Low cost airline Ryanair has warned over job losses for more than 100 pilots and 200 cabin crew as it revealed plans to cut its Dublin-based aircraft fleet by 20 per cent, blaming recent pilot strike action.

The carrier said it had issued 90-day notices to the affected staff and will now begin consultations on redundancy.

It is cutting its Dublin-based fleet from 30 to around 24 for the winter and instead doubling its Polish fleet to more than 10, partly as a result of recent strikes by Irish pilots, which it said had hit bookings and consumer confidence in its Irish services.

While investors await a no-doubt feisty trade face-off between Donald Trump and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday evening, the FTSE once again abandoned 7700 as its miners went into retreat.

Dipping half a percent, the FTSE pulled back from yesterday’s near 6 week peak, dragged lower as its mining stocks – which had rocketed higher on Tuesday – gave back a sizeable chunk of their recent gains despite copper holding at $2.80 per pound.

As for sterling, it continued to recover at a fairly glacial pace, its 0.2% and 0.1% gains against the dollar and the euro sending the pound to 8 day and one week highs against its respective currency rivals.

'ITV’s new strategy to go beyond TV including data analysis capabilities and building a direct-to-consumer proposition effectively gives the business two choices.

'It can spend lots of money expanding its content business and go head-to-head with Amazon and Netflix in the world of streaming. A short cut would be to have another go at buying Peppa Pig majority brand owner Entertainment One which already has a rich library of content in TV, film and music.

'Creating a direct-to-consumer proposition is clearly McCall trying to make her mark on the business and a logical progression given how the business has already been focusing more on content in recent years.

'Reports even suggest that ITV could even launch a joint venture with the BBC and Channel 4, combining forces to have a strong streaming proposition.'